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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27615292">Love Me or Leave Me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TamarindAndDumplings/pseuds/TamarindAndDumplings'>TamarindAndDumplings</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Head empty an I don't like it that way, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, singer!Davey Jacobs, uhhhh</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:53:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,962</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27615292</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TamarindAndDumplings/pseuds/TamarindAndDumplings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Davey's been distant and Jack really wants to know why. Daveys emotional performance becomes the catalyst for these two lovable boys to start communication.<br/>Inspired by Love Me or Leave Me performed by Billie Holiday</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>David Jacobs/Jack Kelly</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Love Me or Leave Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I want to preface this by saying that I've never written anything for myself before (only for school and it's never been fun) But Newsies has become my quarantine obsession. And I thought it was about time I throw myself in the deep end of this wonderful fandom. Recently I've found myself creating Ideas for fics that I want to see, and it seemed a shame to leave them to die simply because I lacked the drive to write.This is possibly the longest thing I've written. While I expect my writing skills to be sub par, I hope you find this entertaining in some way. </p><p>Thank you, and enjoy! :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Davey had been distant recently, Jack doesn’t know why, doesn’t know what he did, they had been fine up until this point. Jack still remembers the high of their first date, a picnic in Central Park that had ended with an enthusiastic and joyful leaf fight, the crisp september air cooling their skin but not yet cold enough to make each erratic, giggling breath painful. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Two months in and their relationship was in full bloom, but it seemed they had hit the inevitable rough patch. Jack had spent hours up at night wracking his brain for what he could've done to push Davey away, his lovely davey, quite possibly the love of his life David. Jack had yet to figure out his error but there was one thing he knew, he had to make it up to Davey.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This suspense is killin' me</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I can't stand uncertainty</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tell me now, I've got to know</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whether you want me to stay or go”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack snapped back to the present, a dim room, quiet chatter, cute people slowly getting drunk after a long, hard day of work. It wasn’t a place he would normally come to, too quiet and too many people in a too small space but today he made an exception. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His eyes drifted around, making note of people to sketch out later, and finally coming to rest on the small stage and reason he found himself in this small bar, Davey. Davey had booked a small show at the bar, it was owned by a friend of Meddas but Davey got the gig with nothing but his own beautiful voice. Jack would've been here no matter what, but with his determination to right his wrong he planned on being extra attentive to Davey’s accomplishments.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Davey stood tall in a nice striped shirt under a fitted brown vest, and God did it fit. Taking a moment to rake his eyes over his boyfriends form, his nice outfit, strong arms, soft hands clutching a microphone, artfully tousled dark hair, the famous mouth that had gotten them both in and out of many scrapes, his gaze finally came to rest on Davey’s bright and chilly blue eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack startled to find that he wasn’t the only one looking, Davey's eyes were trained onto Jacks, piercing and expressive. Suddenly the room seemed so much dimmer, despite the shift in the crowd as the song had begun he only had senses for Davey. Listened to Davey, looked to Davey, longed to touch Davey, if he thought about it hard enough he could almost smell Davey. Was that creepy?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Love me or leave me or let me be lonely</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You won't believe me, I love you only</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I'd rather be lonely</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then happy with somebody else”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He found himself sweating under the intensity of Davey's stare, this was quite possibly the most eye contact they had had in the whole week. Suddenly thrown off guard Jack found himself latching onto the lyrics of the song to keep himself grounded. The weight of the confession within the song and the constant (</span>
  <b>constant</b>
  <span>) eye contact set something off in Jack. Could this be Davey trying to communicate?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A little odd, but given Davey's habit of shying away from saying things straight out, not impossible.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You might find the night time</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The right time for kissin'</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But night time is my time</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For just reminiscin'</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Regrettin' instead of forgettin' with somebody else”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What?! Jack was lost, ‘forgettin’ with somebody else’? Was Davey implying that he thought Jack was gonna leave him??</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe he was just overthinking everything, this could just be an innocent song for the sole purpose of entertainment. He should just relax and focus on his love’s silky voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But then, Davey's deep almost pleading stare begged to differ. Jack wrinkled his brown and tried to communicate his confusion and love for Davey and only Davey through his eyes. He’d always been good at that, Davey had said; ‘course if Davey doubted his love maybe he wasn’t actually.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There'll be no one unless that someone is you</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I intend to be independently blue</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I want your love but I don't want to borrow</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To have it today to give back tomorrow</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For your love is my love</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's no love for nobody else”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack's heart stopped, the song was over and there Davey stood silently weeping on the stage. He shot to his feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“‘Scuse me ma’am” he shouldered his way through the crowd (the very loudly clapping crowd, go Davey!!!), totally fixed on the stage. In his tunnel vision he didn’t see the young man on a collision course with him, THUMP.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Holy shit, I’m so sorry!” the man cried, Jack barely even registered him in his rush to get back on track. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ha, no harm no foul right, guess I fell for you or something” came Jack's distracted response, he offered a shaky smile before being ripped from the awkward moment by a sob. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His gaze snapped up to catch a silhouette speed out the side door. Jack immediately took off after them praying that he would catch up. As he stepped outside he was surprised to hear that the person had stopped in the alley. Sweeping the area he found Davey curled with his head in his knees breathing hard.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Davey? Love, talk to me…” He approached carefully not wanting to scare David away again. Davey's head snapped up, a look of total surprise on his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why are you here??” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like I’m not gonna come lookin’ when the love of my life is hurtin’”  Jack was at a loss of how Dave could think he wouldn’t come.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I- I’m the love of your life?” Davey croaked out after a moment of gaping. “What about that boy in there, or all the people you flirt with?”  Flirt with?! Jack rushed to perform brain gymnastics running back every encounter he’d had in the past weeks. Thinking back to his automatic response to being knocked over he found his answer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Davey, baby I’m sorry, I didn’t know you felt that way. I normally talk to people that way, I thought you knew I meant nothing by it.” Jack tried to explain, he honestly thought that Davey was aware of his flirty mannerisms, given the way he was around friends it should've been obvious. Shouldn’t it?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, I know that. I shouldn’t be upset with you, I know that that's how you communicate, and I know you can talk to whoever you want. But everytime I see you flirting with someone else, it feels like I’m waiting for you to wake up and leave me. It’s not your fault, I shouldn't be upset” Davey rambled on sadly, always quick to pin the blame on himself. Jack wouldn’t have it, </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Davey, if it hurts you it's a problem. Your feelings are valid and you're allowed to be upset with me, I know your intentions are good. C’mon, I’ll drive you home, give you time to pull yourself together a bit, and we can figure this out in our pjs on your couch instead of this soggy alley” Jack tried for a calming tone, but his head was anything but, Davey was hurting because of him. And worse, because of something he had little control over, flirting was his safety net, it’s how he made friends, how he built his social personality. “c’mon , I got you love”.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>I come bearing tea!” Jack quipped snuggling into Davey’s worn couch, a (real, thank God) refuge on many cozy nights recovering from hard study sessions and intense art binges. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...Thanks, we’ve gotta… work this out, huh?” Came Davey’s small reply from underneath his mountain of fuzzy blankets (jack thought it was fucking adorable, but that was unhelpful for the moment). Jack paused, did they? Probably, fuck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” He sighed “but we both have to say what we’re feeling and the other has to respect that.” Davey nodded. Suddenly they were both wishing they were better at handling conflict. Jack reminded himself that this was Davey, he trusted Davey, they would be alright. After a pause spent collecting their thoughts,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“When you flirt with strangers I get scared you will decide you like them more than me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dave, you know I love you to infinity and beyond, you know that right? Why do you think I could love anyone else? I’ve known you forever, surely you know that flirty is my default” Jack leaned in and began wringing his hands.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, I know, but there are lots of other reasons, sometimes they’re prettier than me, or more interesting, or funnier than me, or-” Davey began gesturing wildly as if conducting a frustrated invisible orchestra.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Love, I know we said we’d respect each other's feelings, but you’re talking nonsense to me.” Jack jumped in, spurred on by a rush of emotion. His heart was in his throat, did Davey really not see why Jack loved him? “I love you because you’re </span>
  <b>you</b>
  <span> not because you’re perfect. You’re so pretty, you are the wittiest person I know, when you get started about something you care about lord help the foolish soul that stands in your way. Remember the time with Romeo and the cats? You were ready to throw hands until we realized that it was cats stealing Roe’s shoes and not some crazy thief. And even then, the lecture you gave those kittens on proper thieving conduct? That was hilarious! You may not be a perfect person, but you are perfect for me. Who picks me up when I fall apart, who was there for me when Snyder was finally convicted, who puts up with my bullshit, who dances around the kitchen first thing in the morning? I’ll tell you who, it’s </span>
  <b>you</b>
  <span>; and you have to know I will always be there for you!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I- I…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t promise I can change my entire personality, but I’m willing to do whatever I can to help you understand my love for you.” Davey's eyebrows furrowed at this, he looked to be deep in thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I logically know this, but when it’s strangers I get this uncomfy feeling in my tums” Davey pushed out slowly as if each word took energy to find within his mind. “Maybe I just need to ignore it, it’s just a dumb insicurity that will fade with time I think.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe, but it’s not dumb. We’re in this together, if you’re gonna put in the effort so will I. You said it was just when I flirt with strangers that you feel insecure right?” A nod accentuated by the bounce of Davey’s dark curls “then I will try and tone it down when it’s not our friends? Will that help do you think?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Yeah! I think that would help a lot” Davey exclaimed, tears springing to his eyes. Jack began to freak a little, with the return of the tears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whoa whoa, you okay Davey love? Do ya need anything?” Davey chuckled thickly</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, no I think I’m just tired y’know? Emotional overflow, I’m really happy we talked, I feel much better getting that off my chest.” Jack chuckled, emotional overflow, that was a new one. He filed that one away for later use.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wanna go to bed? It’s getting kinda late…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not yet? Can we watch our lord and savior Mary Berry in The Great British Baking show?” Davey asked, throwing half the blankets over Jack and snuggling closer grabbing his cup of now lukewarm tea, as if he already knew the answer. He did. Jack could never say no to snuggly Davey, it was a fact of life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So, he too grabbed his tea and settled in for another cozy night of contentment spent on Davey’s worn couch.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoyed this in some capacity. I'm not much of a writer so if anyone has feedback, I would be very much willing to hear it! I would like to shout out google for it's dictionary that aided me in not looking like a fool misusing words and for correcting my spelling because otherwise this would be illegible. I feel like I had more to say earlier, but that's all gone now :( It's getting late so I better close out, I give up trying to indent all my paragraphs, I'm tierd and it's too dark to see the keys.</p><p>Thank you so much for reading! Have a wonderful day and remember that you are strong and will persevere whatever shit this year tries to throw at you.</p><p>-Mei Li :</p></blockquote></div></div>
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